[00:00:10.210] - Gordon
Hello.
[00:00:10.560] - Taylor
Hello.
[00:00:11.070] - Gordon
My name's Gordon from Drayson Design.
[00:00:13.110] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.
[00:00:15.260] - Gordon
And welcome to "This Week With Taylor and Gordon," a weekly podcast and vidcast where we talk about things that have affected our businesses over the last seven days. You've just had a message, haven't you?
[00:00:27.140] - Taylor
I have. Or it could be Apple Health or someone notifying me they've just finished a workout or something.
[00:00:32.980] - Gordon
Right, okay. So we didn't put that on silent before we started. Okay. Welcome back to everybody, as I say, every week, as you always point out to me. It's been a really busy week for me. It sort of started last Saturday and I haven't really stopped. I've had sort of lots of gigs, which is good. I had a whole day on Sunday filming, which we mentioned last week, the dance school show. So now I've got all the editing to do and yeah, it's gigs tomorrow. It's just been really busy. I had a gig last, well no, what was it? Wednesday night now, in North London. So that was a late one for me. Client came around on Thursday and we spent lots of time doing some video editing for them as well. It's all go. How's your week been?
[00:01:28.040] - Taylor
Yeah, it's been all right. I've launched one website and hopefully launching another website today. Well, actually there's sort of nearly three. I've got some tiny few things on another one as well that I need to finish off as well. So hopefully three by the end of today.
[00:01:50.650] - Gordon
So it's quite nice when things come together and you get to release them. I'm going to sneeze, one second. Oh, pardon me, I do apologize. So let's get straight on to our topics. Is there any news first of all?
[00:02:06.920] - Taylor
Not for me.
[00:02:07.670] - Gordon
Going to sneeze again.
[00:02:14.710] - Taylor
Bless you.
[00:02:14.710] - Gordon
I do apologize. Live shows, eh? So let's get onto our topic. Can I go first this week?
[00:02:19.660] - Taylor
Yeah, you can go first this week.
[00:02:20.900] - Gordon
Because I think your topic's a bit more interesting. So I'll go first and then you can go second. So my topic today is hidden costs.
[00:02:29.610] - Taylor
Okay. I didn't see that one coming.
[00:02:31.460] - Gordon
Did you not?
[00:02:32.130] - Taylor
No.
[00:02:32.630] - Gordon
Well, that's because I hid it well. Now, a hidden cost is something that you need to be aware of as a business owner, and it needs to be something... I need to define hidden costs, really. I'm not talking about a hidden cost to the customer; I'm talking about a hidden cost to the supplier. So, for example, we do websites. I have a SaaS product as well, 'Software as a Service.' And there are lots of hidden costs, the biggest one being customer support. That is something that you just, it's a hidden cost because you have absolutely no idea how much customer support you're going to be giving to each customer.
[00:03:20.870] - Taylor
Yes.
[00:03:22.270] - Gordon
So, for example, if you do a website, if we do a website for a customer who's quite tech savvy, and they want to manage the site themselves and keep it up to date, then as long as they have an easy way to do things, they'll be able to do it. If, however, technology moves on and systems change and all of a sudden there's a new plug-in and it messes up everything else, there is then a support issue that as a developer of a website, you need to just be aware of because you have two options. You can either include sort of ongoing support in the price of the build, which could make it a lot more expensive to begin with and therefore put someone off coming to you, or you could offer like an ongoing support package, for example. The problem comes when you've just delivered a website, like you're doing at the moment, and for the next 3,4,5,6 weeks, you might get questions about the site and little tweaks and "I want to do this. Can I do it?" and "oh, I meant to mention this to you before, can we have a facility for this?" And all of a sudden you've got all this extra time that you didn't build into your quote because you had no idea if it was going to be needed. So a hidden cost is a really important thing to bear in mind when you are coming up with quotes for people. And it's nice to get a feel for the type of person that you're dealing with to get an idea, and again, it's only going to be an estimate, as to how much support or help and advice you're expected to give to that person. For me, as an entertainer, I don't really have many hidden costs. Sometimes I get customers who ring up and they want sort of hand holding, and they want to sort of have somebody just to listen to their plans and maybe make suggestions or change a few things or offer advice, that sort of thing. And that's all part and parcel with the product and the service I sell, really, but it doesn't happen very often. I have had people that have phoned sort of every day from the day they book until the day of the show asking very simple questions. But it's obviously something that's playing on their mind and it's something they don't know what to do about, which is why they've come to me, as the expert, to ask my advice. So, yeah, it's a really important thing to consider. Have you got any other hidden costs that you can think of to the supplier? I mean, costs can go up. That's another thing. Costs can go up during a project. So, for example, fuel costs are rising astronomically at the moment, both for cars, for houses, for businesses, for offices. The amount of electricity and heating that you're going to need to pay for to create a job, a website in our case, is going to be possibly three times more than it would have been last month in March. Now we're in April and the costs have gone up, anything you've quoted for previously was taken into account your living costs at the time. Living costs have now gone up and so we're having to swallow those prices, if we've agreed to accept the job on those terms. So that's another hidden cost, and those prices could change and fluctuate along with other prices. Things that are out of our control, things like domain names and hosting, and things that we can get a grip on in some respects in the fact that we sort of know they're coming, if there's going to be an upgrade in price. And if that's the case, then we can warn customers ahead of time and give them the opportunity to pre-purchase, which is always a nice thing. Give us your money early and in return we'll give you the price as it is now rather than the price it will be when it comes to your renewal.
[00:08:07.750] - Taylor
Yep.
[00:08:07.750] - Gordon
Which is quite a nice way to get cash flow going through the business, which is also really important. Any other things?
[00:08:15.330] - Taylor
No, I think you hit most of the ones that I was going to mention.
[00:08:19.590] - Gordon
Yeah, but support is the big one, especially if you're in an industry that has aftercare or some sort of support system that people are going to need and rely on. And it's not just end of the sale and that's it. I mean, for example, with my magic, once I finish the show, that's pretty much the end of the job. It's very rare that I'll get any sort of support requests after the fact. What I might do is I might get support requests on a future booking, but that comes under the heading of sales for me; that's pre-sales. So yeah, if you run a service or a business that has an unknown or hidden cost, then you need to bear that in mind. And if your customers aren't aware of it, it might be something that is worth writing a blog post on, or adding into your terms and conditions, or even just adding into your quote just so that you can give people an idea of what to expect. An expectation level is always good. So if you're including, whatever it might be, 5 hours worth of telephone support after their website has been launched, that is something you could include in your package if you wanted to, and price it accordingly. And then they know that they've got that amount of time, and if they are going to need more than that, well that's fine, but it's an extra cost and they would have known about it ahead of time. So be clear about any hidden costs to you, to your customers before you get them to sign on the dotted line, basically. So that's it. That's me done.
[00:10:14.840] - Taylor
Nice.
[00:10:15.850] - Gordon
What would you like to talk about, Taylor?
[00:10:18.100] - Taylor
This week I want to talk about my new MacBook that I bought.
[00:10:22.510] - Gordon
Ooooh.
[00:10:22.510] - Taylor
So I bought the MacBook Pro 16 inch, the M1 Pro with 1 TB of storage.
[00:10:31.750] - Gordon
It's been quite a while since you bought a MacBook as well, isn't it? When was the last time you bought one?
[00:10:36.230] - Taylor
I think it was about a year ago.
[00:10:37.640] - Gordon
Yeah, I think it was about a year ago.
[00:10:40.690] - Taylor
So the reason for upgrading was I wanted the bigger screen. I realized that I do a lot of work on my laptop when I'm out and about, and just having that extra three inches or so makes a huge difference. I can fit a lot more on my computer, the windows can be slightly bit bigger and have more space, and I can get a lot more done really. As well as just more power, I don't really need it for really heavy intensive stuff, but it's nice to have that and not have to wait on anything. Even though most of the stuff I do is browser based. And it's a great machine, I really like it. And if you're looking for a new computer that you need to be able to take with you and you do any sort of creative work, or you just want peace of mind, really. Even though the base model of the 14 inch or the 16 inch is a great option to go for, it will last you a long time. And it's one of those things, it's plug and play really for me. I find that with Windows a lot more people have a lot more issues, but again, they normally are cheaper unless you get a custom build. But then again, you're having to fix any issues that you have with components dying or things like that which you still have with Macs. However, I just find that it's very much a you get what you pay for, but also it's just there and ready to go.
[00:12:25.050] - Gordon
The build quality on a Mac laptop, any Mac product, any Apple product really is really really good. They use quality materials. And the other thing is they keep their resale value. So even though you've got a MacBook that is only a year old and you've upgraded because you needed a higher spec machine, the previous machine that you've got, still, it's worth a lot of money because it retains a lot of its value, which is great news, and also is a consideration if you're making an investment into a laptop.
[00:13:04.450] - Taylor
Yeah, exactly. And a lot of people do use Windows for certain applications that their company that they work for uses and so they don't really have a choice, or the company pay for the computer so you don't have the choice. But if you do have the choice, you run your own company or whatever, I find that it works really, really well with the ecosystem, copying and pasting between your phone and your laptop, or even your iPad. It works seamlessly.
[00:13:32.670] - Gordon
And you can actually run Windows on a Mac laptop.
[00:13:35.310] - Taylor
Yes, you can boot it.
[00:13:37.520] - Gordon
And in fact, I think I remember a little while ago, a few years ago now, they did some tests on Windows laptops versus an Apple laptop running Windows and discovered that at the time of the test, the Apple was actually the best machine for running Windows, which is madness; but it was true at the time. And so you get the best of both worlds. You get the macOS, which is a great operating system, and the ability to run Windows as well, should you need to.
[00:14:11.940] - Taylor
Yeah, exactly. So yeah, I just want to give my opinion on how I've been finding it. I've had it for about a month now, and yeah, I absolutely love it. I think it was a great investment. And yeah, I think it's something that people don't really talk about unless you're in a creative industry, or you are interested in technology and gadgets and things like that. People don't really see it as an expense or something that they can put under the business. I don't think you could put a £5000, £10,000 plus computer down under your business if you are a trade or something. But I do think you can put a good quality computer down as an expense, and it just makes your life easier. It could be if you're not having to wait for things to load. I think that's one of the biggest things is the speed of just a computer when you're using it for daily use, when you're clicking on an app and it's pretty much instant to load. You may not think that's much, but again, it comes back to all of that time that you save. I think we've spoken about it before that, although it's only a couple of seconds, they do add up, and it can be frustrating as well when you're trying to do something, it's not working. And I find Macs pretty much just work out the box and that's I think the biggest thing that a lot of people have found. And I have a friend that's moved over from Windows and at first he couldn't get to grips with it, he didn't like it, and that was because he was trying to do something from a Windows perspective. He was trying to do stuff how you use Windows on a Mac, and that's just not going to work because that's not how Mac works. And as soon as he kind of embraced the way that Apple do things and just said I'm not going to try and do it how I'm used to, I'm just going to do it how they... Whether it's right or wrong, because I'm not used to it or not is regardless. And he's actually come to really like it. And that's coming from someone who had a custom PC and things like that. And I know quite a few people that are thinking about it who have custom PCs and are thinking "I want something I can take to the shops, a coffee shop, or take to a client." That's another thing, having a desktop you can't take anywhere really. So the portability again for the power is really good.
[00:16:40.130] - Gordon
Yeah. Because I have a desktop, I got the largest iMac I could find at the time, which was the 27 inch for the very same reason that you've upgraded to a larger size screen, just because the more screen you have, the more you can do with it. But I don't really visit customers with a need to take a computer with me.
[00:17:04.010] - Taylor
But there have been times where you have thought "actually this would be really useful."
[00:17:07.790] - Gordon
Yes, but not enough for me to actually consider buying a £3000...
[00:17:13.530] - Taylor
Yeah, of course.
[00:17:14.900] - Gordon
Laptop. But yeah, I agree, they're very useful. In fact, the way you use it is very good because you've got the portability of a Mac laptop, but when you are in the office you plug it into your screens and therefore you get the best of both worlds, really.
[00:17:36.180] - Taylor
Yeah. I mean I love the portability and I remember, when was it? Probably about four years ago. And all I had ever known was an iMac. That was all I'd ever used because that was what you used.
[00:17:49.810] - Gordon
Yep.
[00:17:49.810] - Taylor
And you always said to me, laptops aren't great, then you'll miss having an...
[00:17:56.450] - Gordon
A large screen.
[00:17:57.410] - Taylor
And I didn't. And I think it was the best decision I'd ever made because I could take it to College with me, I could take it with friends, I could take it to coffee shops and I could still do work, whereas you are always stuck because it was like if you're not at home you can't do work. And so for me it was probably the best decision because I was able to continue doing stuff I wanted to, but in a different location, for whatever reason, I was going to a coffee shop, seeing friends or whatever, and it was great. And I actually don't think I'd ever go back because...
[00:18:27.620] - Gordon
That's interesting.
[00:18:28.720] - Taylor
Because of the portability to power ratio that there now is. But also the fact that I can hook up my laptop to two 34 inch ultra wides, which I have now more real estate than you do, and I run everything off a laptop.
[00:18:46.010] - Gordon
And having your priority list is important. That's something we should talk about in the future. But top of your priority list is portability. Top of my priority list was the size of the screen. And for me having a large 27 inch Mac because I'm doing lots of graphics and posters and things, was much more important than having a screen I could take to different places.
[00:19:14.310] - Taylor
Yeah. And I mean for a long time as well, you were a single screen only person.
[00:19:18.810] - Gordon
I was.
[00:19:19.330] - Taylor
Before I showed you the ways of multiple screens.
[00:19:21.010] - Gordon
Well, yeah, I was, except I wasn't. Instead of having multiple screens on a computer, I had multiple computers.
[00:19:31.010] - Taylor
Yes.
[00:19:31.010] - Gordon
So I had two computers next to each other, which gave me two screens, but they were separate computers.
[00:19:36.990] - Taylor
But one was mainly used just for your database, and so it wasn't that much use the rest of the time.
[00:19:43.760] - Gordon
No, it didn't get used a lot and it didn't get upgraded, which is why it eventually got superseded. But now I have a second screen on my main machine, and it's great to be able to just drag things that I don't need there and then to the other screen and work on other stuff, knowing that it's still there waiting for me when I need it.
[00:20:04.040] - Taylor
Yeah, I really enjoy it. I like it when I'm building sites. I can have my build and my editor on one screen, and I can have the design on the other screen.
[00:20:15.900] - Gordon
Yep.
[00:20:15.900] - Taylor
And then I can have a preview if I wanted of the live browser that I'm working in, or I can have something else. I can put something in the background I can have Spotify, or if I'm just watching something in the background I can put that as well. So there's lots of use cases for it, and yeah I love my ultra wides; they're the equivalent I think of like nearly two 27 inch or 21 inch screens, so I've got technically four of them plus a 16 inch, so I've got plenty of real estate.
[00:20:47.100] - Gordon
Yeah, I'll say. So maybe we'll check back in on you in a few months and see how you're getting on with your new laptop then.
[00:20:55.660] - Taylor
That sounds great.
[00:20:57.170] - Gordon
So I think that's it from us.
[00:20:59.250] - Taylor
Yeah, that's everything from me.
[00:21:00.590] - Gordon
As always please like, share, and subscribe. Leave a comment below, we'd love to hear what you think of our show.
[00:21:08.330] - Taylor
Where can they find us?
[00:21:09.750] - Gordon
Oh, you can find us as always on YouTube and on Facebook.
[00:21:14.750] - Taylor
You can also go to our website thisweekwith.co.uk to find all of our past episodes and things we might have spoken about.
[00:21:21.780] - Gordon
So as always, we'll see you at 1pm next Friday. Until then, my name is Gordon and I'm from Drayson Design.
[00:21:29.720] - Taylor
And I'm Taylor from The Creative Tinker.
[00:21:32.370] - Gordon
Goodbye.
[00:21:32.960] - Taylor
Bye.
